Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is on his way to federal prison today, after being sentenced to a 14-year sentence for corruption. But before he settled in behind bars, he felt he owed it to the people of Illinois to give a farewell speech. He made sure that the timing was just right -- so he could appear on the evening news. And then he painted a really sad, grim picture of what he's facing right now personally -- calling his impending imprisonment a "calamity" and a "dark and long journey" -- and weirder yet, started bragging about all of his accomplishments as governor of the Land of Lincoln.

Errr ... kinda bizarre, eh? It's not like the guy is Celine Dion or Cher, wrapping up a long-running Vegas show. But as he's illustrated again and again, that's just who he is: A megalomaniac, which is, unfortunately, the best way to describe many politicians.

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Seriously, I've heard first accounts of what a total famemonger the guy is. A friend of mine who lives near him in Chicago says he used to walk outside his house and talk to reporters sitting on the lawn. My bud's exact words:"The dude is kind of nuts. But silly, like a puppy."

He seems to think he's living 24/7/365 on The Rod B Show. Now, don't get me wrong -- due to this trial, he has become a public figure (a VERY public one in my home state), and cameras have been trained on him for some time. In fact, before he made his speech, more than 50 reporters were swarming his home, including two TV helicopters and a dozen TV trucks parked along his street.He has also had plenty of supporters throughout the whole debacle. Thus, maybe he felt that he owed it to the public, the citizens of Illinois to give a statement before heading off to jail. But as he's always been apt to do, he took it a few steps too far.

All in all, as a former Illinois resident and American, it makes me embarrassed and annoyed that an ex-governor thinks he deserves boo hoo-ing over his sentence (which should be the norm, not the exception for white collar corruption). I find it kind of ironic, too, because as he noted in his "farewell speech," we have a lot of bigger fish to fry in this country than having to figure out what to do with corrupt, attention-hungry politicians. Hopefully he gets his priorities straight during his "dark and long journey" in jail.

Here's the speech in all its glory ...

Do you find Blagojevich's speech unnecessary and bizarre? Do you think his sentence should be the status quo for white collar crime?